Elon Musk said Nigel Farage “doesn’t have what it takes” to be leader of Reform UK, hours after Farage refused to condemn the billionaire businessman for his inflammatory comments about Keir Starmer and JessPhillips.
In a surprise intervention, less than three weeks after Musk met Farage at Donald Trump’s Florida home, amid reports he may donate $100m (£80m) to the Reform Party, Musk used X, the social media platform he owns, to say: “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.
It’s unclear what caused Musk, who has recently tweeted repeatedly about British politics, to change his mind about the reformed leader.
But Farage indicated that could be due to a disagreement over Tommy Robinson, the imprisoned far-right anti-Islam agitator who Musk has called a political prisoner but whom Farage condemns.
“Well, it’s a surprise!” Farage wrote about X after Musk’s tweet. “Elon is a remarkable person, but on this point I’m afraid I disagree. My view remains that Tommy Robinson is not right for the Reform Party and I have never wavered from my principles.”
Speaking earlier, Farage said Musk, who called Phillips a “rape genocide apologist” and said Starmer was “complicit in the rape of Britain”, had restored free speech to social networks since the purchase of Twitter, which he renamed X.
“I don’t agree with everything he stands for,” Farage told BBC One’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg. “But I believe in freedom of speech. I think he’s a hero.
He added: “Free speech is back. Well, you might find it offensive, but it’s a good thing, not a bad thing.
Speaking later to the BBC, Wes Streeting, the health secretary, condemned Musk’s comments about Phillips, among a mass of grooming gang-themed messages Musk sent to his 210 million X followers in recent days.
“This is a shameful smear against a great woman who has spent her life supporting victims of the type of violence that Elon Musk and others say they oppose,” he said.
Streeting condemned what he called “armchair critics on social media”, comparing them to people like Starmer and Phillips, who “have done the hard work of locking up wife beaters, rapists, pedophiles.”
Asked about Musk, Streeting said: “If he wants to roll up his sleeves and do something about violence against women and girls, then online platforms, whether it’s X or from one of the other platforms, have a role to play in retaining people. online safely, helping law enforcement crack down on perpetrators of violence against women and girls, as well as those who wish to seduce children online.
Farage, speaking after addressing his supporters at the Reform East of England conference in Chelmsford on Saturday, called Musk’s language “very, very harsh terms” but indicated that it would only be considered unacceptable if it was seen as inciting violence.
“You know, in public life, we say difficult things,” he said. “Those on the left have been throwing these kinds of punches at the right for many, many decades and will continue to do so.”
Farage said he believed Musk was right to characterize Starmer as complicit in the failure to quickly prosecute gangs that targeted vulnerable young girls in a string of British towns due to the Prime Minister’s role as director of prosecutions criminal before becoming a politician.
“What he is specifically referring to is that in 2008 Keir Starmer had just been appointed Director of Public Prosecutions and a case had been brought before them relating to alleged mass rapes of young girls who had not not given rise to prosecution.
“I don’t know right and wrong any more than you do, but if you believe in free speech, people are allowed to have an opinion.”
Farage denied that his reluctance to criticize Musk was linked to reports that Musk could donate up to $100 million to the Reform Party. While saying Musk “could very well” donate, Farage dismissed the idea of a $100 million donation.
Being abandoned by Musk might not be entirely without political benefit for Farage, however embarrassing it may be.
Polls show that Musk is personally unpopular with many British voters, and a number of issues he comments on, for example support for Robinson and the idea that the king should dissolve Parliament and call an election, were not not important beyond the limited bubbles of social media.
Musk’s interest in sexual exploitation in the UK follows reports that Phillips told Oldham council it would be better for it to conduct its own investigation into the local failure, instead than ordering a national version.
Streeting defended the move, telling Sky News that a national inquiry had already been carried out into the matter, led by child protection expert Alexis Jay. He said: “What I think, what not only the historical victims, but also the victims of today, tomorrow and next week deserve, is the full implementation of Alexis’s recommendations Jay. Our predecessors did not implement it.”
theguardian